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New gun laws

Usually I’m opposed to new firearm legislation, but I like these laws going through in Utah, Montana, and Texas. Hopefully the rest of the country will follow suit. Basically what the law says is that, in Montana for example, any gun and ammo made in Montana which is kept in Montana, never crosses state lines, is exempt from federal regulations. The guns and ammo would be stamped “Made in Montana”.

This is just the small picture. The big picture is that these laws are sure to be tested in court. And if the courts uphold these laws, the states will start getting their intrastate commerce rights back. Rights which were taken away in 1942 in the Supreme Court case Wickard v. Filburn.

In that case, a farmer set aside one acre of his wheat crop (which was in excess of the marketing quota for his farm) for personal use. He set aside some which he fed to his livestock, and the rest of that one acre was for he and his family. I can’t explain it that well because I’m just learning about it, but you can read about it if you go here.

My point is that these laws aren’t just about guns. They’re about something I like to call states rights. If something is made in your state and never leaves your state, why should the federal government have any say-so in how it’s regulated? Then people will argue that we’ll have to stop receiving federal money for schools, roads, etc. Fine. Let the states handle it. Look at the state of our education system. It’s appalling and the government (state and federal) fund it. In a 2006 study, eighth grade private school average reading scores were 18.1 points higher than the average public school reading scores. Average private school math scores were 12.3 points higher. Sure wish I could’ve gone to a private school. I mean, I’m already smart. Just imagine how much smarter I could be.

Colin Powell said Americans want more government. I vehemently disagree with that and recent news stories (if you know where to look) will prove his wrongness (see, if I had gone to private school I would know that “wrongness” isn’t a word). From the number of tea parties to state rights laws, it appears that Americans want less government.

(I hope the guys at teapartyus.com don’t mind me using their pic at the top of this post)